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3.13.2014

WINDSDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS AND OTHER BLUSTERY THINGS


my wednesday yesterday was a really good wednesday, as far as wednesdays go. having a good wednesday is just such a treat, you know? it's not like anybody's guaranteed a good wednesday. i find my best days usually happen on a thursday anyway, so a good wednesday is really just a nice bonus, is what it is.

i had my weekly wednesday sitter yesterday afternoon and i used it to sneak off for a really fun date with a really rad lady to plot out some fun new things, and then my editor called, and it wasn't half bad! it wasn't half bad! i'd been dreading that call in that kind of way where you relish the dreading, because how neat of an opportunity it is to dread a call from an editor over some nonsense book you're writing? we talked strategy and editing and we're going in a fun direction with it--a good direction, a focused direction--and it got me really excited, the sweaty kind of excited though where it's like, oh crap kind of excited, and also now i finally know how to describe the dang thing when somebody asks about it, which is no small miracle. it's about being a queen, naturally. now if only someone could tell me how to describe my blog when people ask me about that. "ummm, i blog about... me?" that one never sounds terribly satisfying.

to kill the last of the hour i had to myself before the sitter had to go, i wandered around aimlessly in a very rainy upper west side dusk. my thoughts were just going everywhere, so i balanced my umbrella between my shoulder and chin and walked really, really slowly while typing an entire new chapter into my iphone down columbus between 71st and 67th. and then i took a photo of myself to immortalize that very moment,  the moment i wore a gray sweater on columbus avenue while looking at my phone instead of where i was going, because that never happens. ;) and then brandon called and said he and huck were waiting for me at our favorite greek place, and i swear to you the birds sang in the trees. it was just, it was just silly, is what it was.

after that existentially magnificent greek dinner, where the rain was tap-tapping just the right way onto our glass windowed seating area, and after the last of the dining room chairs i ordered for so cheap it'd make your eyes roll showed up on time and looked just like i wanted them to, i had to look at brandon and just laugh. i have all the diet coke in the fridge a girl could want. i have devastatingly great boy-men who drive me bonkers in the best way, my hormone fog had cleared that morning, a fog that i've noticed has gotten lighter + easier to see through with every month that passes. i mean, when the good days roll in like this you just gotta grab onto 'em and say so.


in closing i will tell you a true story about today that is going to take this post in an entirely new and vastly more treacherous direction. 

basically the weather out is satanic. the winds are berserk. 19 degrees with a windchill of maybe five, and 25 mile-per-hour winds with gusts up to 50, FIFTY YES FIFTY I TELL YOU. so we were walking to play school, i was pushing huck in the stroller, we'd got to this one spot that was making a kind of wind tunnel effect and it was blowing so hard i actually could not take a single step forward, all i could do was push hard into it and hold my ground and hope it would blow down soon enough that both of us could breathe again + keep on walking. so i'm pushing right? then comes a gust. easily 50mph, and yes that kind of wind can push your stroller backwards onto you. the stroller knocked me clean over + rolled over twice (once over me and my bashed in knee cap), and then we were pretty much dragged five feet down the street while i held on to the stroller for dear life and shouted, "it's okay huck! it's okay!" while he screamed bloody murder. i couldn't even breathe, the wind was blowing so hard and so ice cold, i could barely even open my eyes. luckily a cab happened to be driving past at that exact moment carrying a very burly dude in the back seat. the driver slammed on the breaks while i was basically parasailing down riverside drive against my will, they both leapt out together and caught us before we could scrape our way too much farther down the street. they essentially carried all of us in a big pile into the first apartment building lobby we could find, and then they were gone! poof! i didn't even get a good look at their faces as i thanked them, they were gone before my beanie was out of my eyes. thank you, kind strangers! there in the lobby i did all the checks for broken bones, and we were fine. totally fine! my hands literally have never been that ice cold in my life, it hurt like the dickens as they thawed out. the wind was so steady that the doorman couldn't even get the door open once we were finally put back together, and he weighed 275 pounds! well, that's what he told me, that doesn't sound believable does it. he was probably six foot five though. what do i know?

luckily, huck was strapped in securely at the time with the handlebar firmly in place, so aside from being phenomenally terrified he was otherwise completely fine. (those bugaboos are flubbing amazing and i said a major prayer of thanks that we didn't take the umbrella stroller that morning.) and luckily too when the stroller fell over it knocked the brakes into place, which i'm sure slowed us down at least a little bit? ... anyway. 

and that's my exciting story for the day.

27 comments:

  1. i remember that queen post and love it - even more excited for your book! i've been watching gossip girl again from the beginning and longing for ny like crazy. this post adds right to it...grey rainy days + beautiful buildings.. le sigh. and wow, SCARY WINDS! so glad for kind people and you two made it out alive. let's hope spring is soooon. xo

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  2. Oh my gosh! I'm glad you and Huck are okay!

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  3. I feel like there are some people who will read the second half and think oh she must be exaggerating. and so I am here to say: you are so spot on in describing the weather today and I salute the fact that you even stepped outside because my dogs and I lasted maybe 6 minutes before all 3 of us had a nervous breakdown from being thrown about. love, another girl feeling proud of herself on columbus ave and the 60's.

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  4. OMG that wind gust story made me tear up a little! Thank goodness for the kindness of strangers, indeed! Stories like that restore my faith in humanity. So glad you were ok! - Leith

    www.thesanfranciscan.co

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  5. so excited for the book and HOLY crap! so glad you guys are safe! winds don't mess around. mother nature--get it together!!!

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  6. SO glad that you are safe, and I'm sure it was no exaggeratio - we've been hearing horror stories all along the eastern seaboard. Wonderful post!

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  7. That must have been terrifying! Thank goodness for helpful burly strangers, and glad you and Huck are okay!

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  8. welp I moved to brooklyn about a day ago and it has been a whirlwind-reading your post gives me hope one day I can have a little corner of happy in this city too :)

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  9. i can't wait for your book! and let me tell ya having a post to read every morning for the last couple of days has been awesome! and that wind story! thank God for kind strangers. :)

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  10. Omg poor Huck....& you, lovely chivalrous men! Looking forward to your book! Xx

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  11. I'm so hoping that these regular posts continue. I have a case of the blues right now and I can't tell you how much a good dose of natalie being natalie cheers me up. Thank you for making me smile, and I'm glad you and the Huck monster are okay now the wind has put you down xx

    katie@ http://whatyoudoingkatie.blogspot.co.uk

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  12. That last paragraph scared me to death! I'm so grateful you experienced the kindness of strangers.

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  13. These winds has been all sorts of cray cray (and I don't use that term lightly - actually I don't use that term ever, but these winds really deserve it, you know?!). Yesterday, when it was time for everyone to go home, my entire office gathered up by the front door - all bunched up and terrified - and watched people desperately trying to walk down the street. TRYING TO WALK. We all stayed an extra half hour, purely out of wind-fear. So glad you're okay!

    I can't *wait* for your book (!!!). Any idea when we can all get our hands on it?

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  14. I have been reading your blog for about a year now, by way of thealisonshow, who is good friends with one of my best friends from college. aaaaannyway, for some reason i'm just now reading your "being a queen" post and i felt empowered! i stay at home with my three daughters, 3 years old and under, and that post was just the boost i needed. i often feel like i'm doing the greatest work of all by raising them, but then some days it just feels like wiping and refereeing. thanks for that reminder that i am a queen! looking forward to the book!

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  15. That "Being a Queen" post quite literally saved me. That seems like another lifetime ago, and I will certainly be thrilled to read an entire book about that.

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  16. Oh my goodness that wind story!! You painted the picture so well I couldn't help but chuckle at the image in my mind of you and poor Huck tumbling down the street, and then I choked up reading about the men stopping to help you and carry you to safety-lobby. I mean, just unreal. So glad you guys are ok! I totally know the power of wind- here in Pasadena two years ago the Santa Ana's got to 100mph! Roofs were gone, 100 year old oak trees were completely uprooted...it was so crazy- and scary!
    Also, I just want to say thank YOU for being who you are, and sharing that with so many people. Your vulnerability is truly inspiring, and I know it must be hard to get all the crap that you do (which I just do NOT understand), but you still keep giving. I love that about you. Thanks for being so great, and letting us share in your beautiful life. :)

    Linds

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  17. If your book is anything like that "Being a Queen" post, I will read, reread and reread again. Can't wait.

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  18. What a crazy, windy experience! Happy you're both ok. Also very excited developments about your book. Can't wait to read it!

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  19. Loving the picture with umbrella! I have to get one, but we barely go anywhere when it's raining . Here we go driving and florida....

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  20. Now I am even more excited for your book because, wouldn't you know, on being a queen is one of my absolute favorites!! In fact I quoted you in it in my last blog on miscarriage @ jeamnuss.blogspot.com. I'm sitting here rocking a sleeping babe but also wanting to scream with delight!!

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  21. Since I knew that you were ok, as you were alive and blogging and such, after the initial terror of the windy story, I sort of envisioned the scene in Mary Poppins where the other nanny applicants blew away. I hope that doesn't make me insensitive, if you had any injuries I assure you I would have not thought of something so comical. But humor is my coping mechanism and my does that seem scary.

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  22. I love this post. I'm in a hormone fog of my own right now. (Postpartum anxiety for the second time! Doesn't seem fair, right?) anyway I LOVE being reminded that good days are coming. Life will go on and things like eating Greek food while watching rain on a window will make me happy again. So thank you.

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  23. Hahaha that little ending bit about the stroller and being blown down the street gave me JUST the laugh I needed right now. Such great story telling!

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  24. That is quite the crazy wind story, and more power to you on the book!!

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  25. the queen post is just...perfect. beautiful, life-giving, truth.

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  26. Holy ish! I'm so glad yall are okay, but that seriously made me lol. Can you imagine what that scene must have looked like?! Sorry - I feel like it's okay to laugh since yall are okay. I just imagine you telling Huck it's okay while wondering how the f you were going to get out of this. And hooray to kind strangers - I LOVE those!

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